"Beyond the Great Silence"
Dec. 26th, 2023 03:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dochermes"Beyond the Great Silence"
12/23/2023
I.
It was above forty degrees and sunny on December 23rd in Manhattan. Ashley Whitaker lowered the trap door behind her as she stepped up onto the roof of the KDF building. Most of the roof surface was taken up by a segmented steel panel which could roll up to allow the CORBY stealthcopter access. The Unicorn straightened up. For once, she was not wearing all white but instead had on a dark red jacket and maroon jeans, rather subdued for her.
Now past forty, the little platinum blonde still appeared to most observers to be in her mid-twenties at most. She had stayed trim and athletic. But there was a thoughtful depth to those crystal blue eyes that had not been there a few years earlier. Ashley glanced around. A waist high railing of horizontal steel rods had been erected around the edge of the roof. At the northeast corner with his back to her sat Carlo Ventura.
The mystic was wrapped in his heavy cloak of gold cotton shot through with threads of the Ensalir metal. Only the back of his head with its shaggy mop of curly black hair could be seen. Without turning, he said, "Hello, Ashley."
This did not surprise her at all. It was for his uncanny perception that she had sought him out as soon as she had returned to Manhattan. The Unicorn went over and easily lowered herself to sit next to her teammate. "Hi. I went to my parents' graves today."
Carlo turned a narrow, bony face toward her. He was twenty years younger than she was, but there was a calm reserve in his face that made it seem as if he was an elder dealing with a child. "Christmas is an emotional time for so many."
"Yeah. Tell me about. You know, if no one is around at the cemetery, I talk out loud to them. Mostly to my mother. It makes me feel better. But today... I don't know, suddenly it seemed pointless. I was standing in front of a stupid piece of granite with names and dates chiseled on it. Six feet down were wooden boxes with what's left of my parents' bodies. I didn't expect an answer! I didn't even expect a sign, like a bird flying overhead or anything. It was dumb."
There was nothing judgemental in Carlo's voice at all. "You want to ask a question."
"Yeah I do. Listen, Carlo, you've been wearing that Eyeless Helmet for years now. You're in tune with the Universe, you go on deep spiritual journeys outside the physical world, sometimes you seem more like an angel than just a flesh and blood guy. So give me a straight answer. Is this all there is? Is there life after death or not?"
"I can not answer that."
"What the hell, why won't you? It's me asking, we've been through Midnight War together, we've literally saved each others' lives. Why won't you give me an answer?"
Carlo sighed almost imperceptibly. "It's that I CAN'T give you an answer, Ashley. I have tried to find out, of course. I have gone beyond the subtle barriers. I have sent my consciousness where the living may not trespass. And I don't remember what I found."
"Wait, what? I don't get it. What are you saying?"
"Whatever my spirit learned, it does not retain. I return to my body and the best I can recall is no more than a vague emotional state which fades. It's just like waking up from a dream and immediately having the details evaporate."
The little blonde shook her head, making her gleaming hair swing from side to side. "That doesn't make any sense, Carlo. All I want is a yes or no answer. I hardly remember my dad, my mom raised me to be the second Unicorn. She died so suddenly! Unexpectedly! She had no symptoms at all, it was a tiny bent blood vessal in her head. She went to bed feeling fine and I found her two days later when I came to visit."
"Go on," Carlo said.
"I want to talk to her again. I want to know if she's proud of me as the Unicorn. She got to see April reach five but I want to know if she's watching April hit puberty. It's important. It matters to me!"
"Ashley, I would give you an answer if I could but the knowledge is not permitted to me. Once we enter the silence, we are not heard from again."
The Unicorn shot to her feet, body tense as if about to fight. Then, as Carlo rose as well, she unexpectedly threw her arms around his neck and buried her face against his chest. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know you would tell me if you could."
After a long silence, he rubbed her upper back gently. "There is one thing to consider. It may mean nothing. When I return from going beyond the barriers, in the brief moments as I settle back into my body... I feel happy."
That did it. Ashley sniffled and, although she was not crying audibly, tears ran down her face. "I'll take that as hope, Carlo. It's enough. It'll do."
12/26/2023
12/23/2023
I.
It was above forty degrees and sunny on December 23rd in Manhattan. Ashley Whitaker lowered the trap door behind her as she stepped up onto the roof of the KDF building. Most of the roof surface was taken up by a segmented steel panel which could roll up to allow the CORBY stealthcopter access. The Unicorn straightened up. For once, she was not wearing all white but instead had on a dark red jacket and maroon jeans, rather subdued for her.
Now past forty, the little platinum blonde still appeared to most observers to be in her mid-twenties at most. She had stayed trim and athletic. But there was a thoughtful depth to those crystal blue eyes that had not been there a few years earlier. Ashley glanced around. A waist high railing of horizontal steel rods had been erected around the edge of the roof. At the northeast corner with his back to her sat Carlo Ventura.
The mystic was wrapped in his heavy cloak of gold cotton shot through with threads of the Ensalir metal. Only the back of his head with its shaggy mop of curly black hair could be seen. Without turning, he said, "Hello, Ashley."
This did not surprise her at all. It was for his uncanny perception that she had sought him out as soon as she had returned to Manhattan. The Unicorn went over and easily lowered herself to sit next to her teammate. "Hi. I went to my parents' graves today."
Carlo turned a narrow, bony face toward her. He was twenty years younger than she was, but there was a calm reserve in his face that made it seem as if he was an elder dealing with a child. "Christmas is an emotional time for so many."
"Yeah. Tell me about. You know, if no one is around at the cemetery, I talk out loud to them. Mostly to my mother. It makes me feel better. But today... I don't know, suddenly it seemed pointless. I was standing in front of a stupid piece of granite with names and dates chiseled on it. Six feet down were wooden boxes with what's left of my parents' bodies. I didn't expect an answer! I didn't even expect a sign, like a bird flying overhead or anything. It was dumb."
There was nothing judgemental in Carlo's voice at all. "You want to ask a question."
"Yeah I do. Listen, Carlo, you've been wearing that Eyeless Helmet for years now. You're in tune with the Universe, you go on deep spiritual journeys outside the physical world, sometimes you seem more like an angel than just a flesh and blood guy. So give me a straight answer. Is this all there is? Is there life after death or not?"
"I can not answer that."
"What the hell, why won't you? It's me asking, we've been through Midnight War together, we've literally saved each others' lives. Why won't you give me an answer?"
Carlo sighed almost imperceptibly. "It's that I CAN'T give you an answer, Ashley. I have tried to find out, of course. I have gone beyond the subtle barriers. I have sent my consciousness where the living may not trespass. And I don't remember what I found."
"Wait, what? I don't get it. What are you saying?"
"Whatever my spirit learned, it does not retain. I return to my body and the best I can recall is no more than a vague emotional state which fades. It's just like waking up from a dream and immediately having the details evaporate."
The little blonde shook her head, making her gleaming hair swing from side to side. "That doesn't make any sense, Carlo. All I want is a yes or no answer. I hardly remember my dad, my mom raised me to be the second Unicorn. She died so suddenly! Unexpectedly! She had no symptoms at all, it was a tiny bent blood vessal in her head. She went to bed feeling fine and I found her two days later when I came to visit."
"Go on," Carlo said.
"I want to talk to her again. I want to know if she's proud of me as the Unicorn. She got to see April reach five but I want to know if she's watching April hit puberty. It's important. It matters to me!"
"Ashley, I would give you an answer if I could but the knowledge is not permitted to me. Once we enter the silence, we are not heard from again."
The Unicorn shot to her feet, body tense as if about to fight. Then, as Carlo rose as well, she unexpectedly threw her arms around his neck and buried her face against his chest. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know you would tell me if you could."
After a long silence, he rubbed her upper back gently. "There is one thing to consider. It may mean nothing. When I return from going beyond the barriers, in the brief moments as I settle back into my body... I feel happy."
That did it. Ashley sniffled and, although she was not crying audibly, tears ran down her face. "I'll take that as hope, Carlo. It's enough. It'll do."
12/26/2023
no subject
Date: 2023-12-27 03:12 am (UTC)(And new life continues to be born: during our last Christmas light-viewing drive together through Dayton before I moved, my best friend took me through the grounds of two local hospitals, reflecting that the festive illumination was at once bidding souls farewell and welcoming them in. My youngest grandniece turned two on precisely that day (and be assured that I got her two presents; getting shortchanged because of a happenstance of the calendar is a sore point for a lot of children of December.)
I hope the holiday season finds you supplied with warmth, good food, comfort, safety, congenial company (or congenial solitude, if that’s your preference) and freedom from pain.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-17 05:22 pm (UTC)The last time I was in the ER with my asthma (every few months), They had started a charming custom. Over the PA system, they played a few bars of "Lullaby and Good Night" when a baby was born, which cheered up staff and patients alike.
Looking forward to a good year! As we get older, we seem to appreciate more all that we have been given. I hope this year is one you will remember fondly. (Psst, Lajka waves HI! and gives you a big squishy hug)